What is an indicator?

Indicators are the measurements used to answer the key evaluation questions and they help assess whether a project is progressing toward its goal or not. Ideally they tell you what is changing at the community, family or individual level as a direct result of the PVAW or gender equity work your organisation is undertaking. They can also tell you what processes worked well and what can be improved on.

Common examples of indicators include participation rates, attitudes, skills, knowledge, individual behaviours, incidence and prevalence. The indicators you develop are informed by your key evaluation questions, settings, target group, your program objectives, logic model and/or evaluation criteria.

While indicators provide a measure of what has changed they may not necessarily tell us why things are changing. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative indicators is recommended. Use the SMART criteria below to help in developing your indicators.

GET SMART

Indicators need to be SMART as outlined below (image from Our Watch, Putting Prevention of Violence Against Women into Practice: How to Change the Story, page 147).